starting to get serious about producing.. what equipment do i need?

**woolie** · 03-06-2006

right now i just have a oxygen 8 keyboard and FL.

im growing.. and i wanan get serious about producing so what equipment do you all recommend?

i kind of want to get stuff that doesnt have to be mad on the comuter like FL.. i just want a to have a table set up with all the things i need right there and no computer. im pretty sure thats possible right?

im guessing im going to need like a mpc, a turntable.. but i dont really know. can someone help me out?

**ReamOO** · 03-06-2006

If I were you, I would get an MPC 1000 or a workstation. The MPC 1000 makes some good beats but a workstation will do just about everything. If you have about a grand, go and get one. You can find one, you just have to look. Good luck!

**kontak80** · 03-07-2006

Originally posted by woolie
right now i just have a oxygen 8 keyboard and FL.

im growing.. and i wanan get serious about producing so what equipment do you all recommend?

i kind of want to get stuff that doesnt have to be mad on the comuter like FL.. i just want a to have a table set up with all the things i need right there and no computer. im pretty sure thats possible right?

im guessing im going to need like a mpc, a turntable.. but i dont really know. can someone help me out?

If you are familiar with FL, Id say stick with that for now and master it completely!! 9th wonder uses nothing but FL and a stack of records! Its not about what you have, but how you use it.

If you are convinced that you need other gear, Scratch magazine lists the gear that most of the popular Producers use. If you know that a certain producer favors your style, then you might want to see if their setup will work for you. But at the same time, you have to take my first paragraph into consideration. Just because they are nice with a MPC doesnt mean you will be. Just experiment and you'll find what you are comfortable with. The employees at Guitar Center dont even help me any more because I am known to buy stuff and return it for something else because I simply didnt like it.

**€ma** · 03-07-2006

If you like software you could try something like Reason and pick up an nice midi keyboard and if you like the idea of an MPC an mpd16 or something.

**Samplecraze** · 03-09-2006

Before you spand any more on nice gear, think about the listening environment.

Sort your room's acoustics out first, then monitors and then get heavy with gear lust.

**Jlina** · 03-09-2006

Mv-8000
Triton LE or something similiar
Turntable

**DJ Curve** · 03-09-2006

Originally posted by Samplecraze
Before you spand any more on nice gear, think about the listening environment.

Sort your room's acoustics out first, then monitors and then get heavy with gear lust.

Listening environment has nothing to do with getting good at producing....

Woolie, there are a million different things you could get but my advice is to stick with what you have and master it like Kontakt80 said. If you absolutely feel the need to have hardware then you gotta decide what kind of producer are you???? Are you a chopped up sample producer(Pete Rock/Kanye & everyone else in between) or are you more of a melody from scratch type of producer(Scott Storch, DarkChild, Neptunes, etc) You don't have to be one or the other but just decide which one you favor right now.

If you are more of a chopping samples type dude i'd grab a MPC(the 1000 seems to be the best bang for the buck b/c of the low cost yet modern OS) Then grab a rack like EMU Proteus so you can have a few extra keyboard, synth, bass, & guitar sounds. I hear the Roland MV-8000 is nice but I haven't had much experience with it and they are more in the price range of the MPC 2500 & 4000.

If you are more of a keyboard dude you gotta go test out the boards out there. Obviously you'll hear about the the big 3(Triton, Motif, Fantom). Just check out which one suits you the best b/c people will argue forever about which one is best. I like the sampler on the Fantom X the best of the 3 and i'd suggest the Fantom X or Motif ES but thats just my opinion, not the law)

Grab some basic monitors like Berhinger Truths, KRK 8, M-Audio Bx5.....and some good headphones like Senheiser HD280 for them nights you can't bang out on the speakers. Its important not to get too much gear at one time b/c it will be harder to focus on learning one piece in and out!

Oh yea SampleCraze....I am totally for having a proper acoustic environment and good monitors but I think its more important to be learn how to make good beats first. That was not a shot at you by any means dude!